1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of bedding products, and more particularly to mattress foundations for the support of mattresses on bed frames and the like.
2. Prior Art
Innerspring mattresses and box springs have been very common mattress and mattress foundation devices for a great number of years, and as a result have tended to establish a standard in characteristics and performance against which other mattresses and mattress foundations are judged. An innerspring mattress provides good support for the body, though having a characteristic of taking a permanent set unless part of the load on the mattress is shared by the mattress foundation, a result achieved through the use of the conventional box spring foundation.
In recent years, however, foam mattresses (e.g. flexible urethane foam mattresses) have been recognized as providing comfortable and desirable support for the human body when lying down, and as not having a tendency of taking a permanent set, thereby allowing the use of such mattress materials on a substantially rigid mattress foundation. This results in foam mattresses and rigid mattress foundations enjoying substantial commercial success.
The prior art combination of foam mattresses and rigid mattress foundations provide a high quality and comfortable sleeping foundation, but have other characteristics which are undesirable, partially because they do not provide some of the characteristics of innerspring mattresses and box springs which have become expected by much of the purchasing public, and partially because their lack of these characteristics, quickly experienced in the sales room by the potential purchaser, is inaccurately suggestive of a poor sleeping platform. In particular, when one sits on the edge of an innerspring mattress - box spring combination, both mattress and box springs have a substantial and generally continuous "give ," suggestive of a soft and comfortable sleeping platform. The foam for a foam mattress, however, has a selected density and/or other properties and/or other characteristics to provide a compliance which will allow the desired deflection of the mattress when subjected to the relatively low pressures of a person lying thereon. When a person sits on the edge of a foam mattress bed having a rigid mattress foundation, the higher pressures resulting from the concentration of the body weight generally result in the nearly complete local compression of the foam mattress, creating a relatively hard bottoming effect in contra-distinction to an innerspring mattress - box spring combination, thus inaccurately suggestive of a poor sleeping foundation. Since consumer sales of this type of product may be very substantially effected by such first impressions of a prospective purchaser, it would be highly desirable to have a mattress foundation for use with foam mattresses characterized by "give " similar to that of a box spring at cost more consistent with the cost of a rigid foundation.